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A Sabbath Day's Journey

By: Rev. Paul Landgraf
What is a Sabbath day's journey? First of all, it is a Jewish expression. We measure distances in meters or yards. The Jews had a certain distance that they could walk on Saturday before it would be considered work. So their synagogues that they went to on Saturday could not be very far away. The word appears only in Acts 1:12 and indicates a distance of about three-quarters of a mile.

With that in mind, I think it is important to remember the origins of Christianity. Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'. Much of the Old Testament has a literary structure that we are not aware of because of our modern emphasis on chapter and verse divisions. Within many of these blogs, I try to get the reader to see a bigger picture, a larger perspective that often includes the Old Testament and the environment that was present when the New Testament was seeing the Light of the day.

Second, a Sabbath day's journey is intentionally short. These 'journeys' with a text, almost always one of the three readings for that Sunday, are deliberately brief discussions. This blog was never designed to be a comprehensive look at any text. Sometimes a specific word is studied in detail. But, as a whole, a blog entry, by itself, is meant to be quite brief.

Finally, since the term 'Sabbath day's journey' appears in Acts, it is meant to appeal to a wide variety of people. This blog is meant for those who cannot come on Sunday mornings. And it is also for those who do come on Sunday mornings but would also like a further study of the text. It is also for those who live somewhere else in the world (besides Drake and Freedom, Missouri, USA) and would simply like a further study of the text. It was meant to get these different groups of people to start thinking about the biblical texts. Part of the reason for this blog is that I am not able to have a bible class on Sunday mornings with either congregation, and so, to have a blog like this seemed like a good idea. I hope it is helpful for you, in whatever situation you may be.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for taking the time to read this!

December 16th, 2017

12/16/2017

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I​t is nice to have gospel texts from the first chapters of different gospel accounts. Last week the text was from the Gospel according to Mark. This week it is from the Gospel according to John. And next week it will be from the Gospel according to Luke. Unfortunately all the texts are not from the initial verses of each account.

The starting point of a text is an important thing. And it probably should go without saying that the ending point is also important. And the beginning and ending of the Gospel according to John is, in a word, incredible.

I used the word 'incredible' because, first of all, the writer speaks to the present day person. Twice, near the end, he writes some words so that YOU, the reader or listener, may believe. It is almost as if there is a voice inside of your head--but THIS voice is OUTSIDE your head. Your head can get messed up, just like the rest of you! This voice cannot get messed up.

I also used the word 'incredible' because, in the first chapter, John goes back to the VERY beginning and tries to relate how God could take on flesh and be born as a man. And, if that is not incredible, I do not know what is. We need help to get our minds around it.

John the Baptist was, as the text says, sent from God, and he tried to get the people used to something significant happening--the Jesus event. Last week, in the Gospel according to Mark, John described Jesus as powerful. This week, John connects Jesus to the God of the Old Testament, but he also describes him as standing in the midst of the religious leaders and saying that, unfortunately, the religious leaders do not know him (John 1:26; and the text makes it emphatic that it is the religious leaders who do not know him).

It is unfortunate that many people think of the Gospel according to John as a 'spiritual' gospel. The reason for this is usually attributed to Clement of Alexandria. Eusebius writes about it in this way: 'Last of all, John, aware that the external details had been recorded in the Gospels, was urged by his disciples and divinely moved by the Spirit to compose a spiritual Gospel (Eusebius: The Church History, page 218; edited by Paul Maier).'

Unfortunately this quote has distracted people from the wonderful reality that this gospel account shares--that God became a man, a physical man. And the ramifications of this are huge.

A nice, new book that heads in this direction (although the author uses a different language to do that) is Gott wahrnehmen by Rainer Hirsch-Luipold. He examines some of the texts in John that affect the different senses and points out some of the wonderful ramifications of the incarnation. The taste of good wine (2:1-11), the smell of a dead body (11:1-12:11), and the eyes that see the resurrected Jesus--with blessings to those who do not see him (20:1-29) are all good things he writes about.

This kind of Spirit gets involved on our level--just like Jesus. Now THAT is Spiritual (with a capital 'S')!
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